--- title: 10 States Where Home Equity Increased the Most Over the Past Year description: Homeowners gained $20,000 in equity on average despite rough times in real estate. Equity increased the most in Hawaii and California. authors: - name: Brenden Rearick role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/ bio: Brenden Rearick is a former news reporter at Money who specialized in mortgages, real estate, and personal finance topics. education: University of Pittsburgh, BA at_money_since: 2023 articles: 133 covers: - Housing - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology former_staff: true editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-12-12T21:00:17.000Z' modified: '2023-12-12T21:20:18.000Z' section: Housing tags: - News word_count: 695 canonical: https://money.com/states-where-home-equity-increased-most/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Ocean front neighborhood of Lanikai Beach in Kailua in Hawaii, United States](https://img.money.com/2023/12/News-States-Homeowners-Gained-Equity.jpg) *Oahu, Hawaii* The residential real estate market has experienced some rough times lately, but homeownership clearly has its benefits: The average owner gained about $20,000 in home equity over the past 12 months. In the third quarter of 2023, the total [equity](https://money.com/what-is-equity/) value of all homes with [mortgages](https://money.com/best-mortgage-lenders/) increased by $1.1 trillion year-over-year, according to [a report](https://www.corelogic.com/intelligence/homeowner-equity-insights-q3-2023/) by real estate data company CoreLogic. That's a near 7% increase. As is often the case in real estate, location can have a big influence on the trajectory of your home's value. Hawaiian homeowners, for example, saw a blistering $64,000 average rise in home equity over the past year. A total of 17 states saw homeowners' equities rise by an average of $20,000 or more. Not all states saw increases in equity value, mind you. Three states saw the average home equity *decrease* year-over-year: Texas, New York and Utah. ## Start tapping into the equity of your home to pay for major expenses ### Work with a licensed Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) representative in your state today. [Apply Now](https://money.com/pr/x385dc4fd559?ap_referrer=%2Fstates-where-home-equity-increased-most%2F) ## What is home equity and how does it work? Equity is the value of an asset minus how much debt the owner owes on the asset. Home equity is generally calculated by subtracting the money owed on a mortgage from the total estimated value of the property. [Home equity](https://money.com/how-to-build-equity-in-a-home/) isn't just a point of pride for owners; it's also a valuable tool if you need to borrow down the line through a [home equity loan](https://money.com/best-home-equity-loans/). The fact that the average owner gained tens of thousands of dollars in additional equity is a signal that owners have largely benefitted from a rise in home values and stayed atop their [mortgage payments](https://money.com/mortgage-calculator/). Increases in home equity can occur for a number of reasons. Homeowners who pay down their mortgages increase their home equity by doing so, and those who make larger down payments will instantly have more equity in their home than owners who make smaller ones. [Refinancing your mortgage](https://money.com/best-mortgage-refinance/) to shorten the term of your loan is another way to increase equity faster. Market trends have a large effect on equity too, made especially apparent in recent times as home values across the U.S. ballooned. If you buy a house with a mortgage, and the value of your home increases, your equity also increases because you're only paying a loan on the cost at the time you purchased it. Prices and values of homes across the real estate have been propped up for the entirety of 2023, caused by high [mortgage rates](https://money.com/mortgage-rates/) and low inventory. This trend is leading to the spike in equity for many owners. And homeowners may continue to benefit; real estate company Zillow predicted in August that [home values would continue to rise](https://money.com/home-values-zillow-prediction-2024/) by 6.5% by July 2024. ## 10 states with the biggest rise in home equity Here are the 10 states with the highest home equity gains over the last year, with the average increase in parenthesis, according to CoreLogic: 1. Hawaii (+$64,000) 2. California (+$51,000) 3. Massachusetts (+$45,000) 4. Rhode Island (+$43,000) 5. Connecticut (+$42,000) 6. New Hampshire (+$41,000) 7. New Jersey (+$41,000) 8. Maine (+$34,000) 9. Wisconsin (+$30,000) 10. Florida (+$28,000) ## 10 states with the highest share of negative equity Another good development for owners over the last year is the decrease in homes with negative equity. An owner with negative equity owes more on their house than that house is worth. In the third quarter, the number of homes with negative equity decreased by 8%, or by about 90,000 properties. As you may expect, the states with the highest increase in equity have some of the lowest shares of homes with negative equity. Only 1.2% of Hawaiian homes and 0.6% of Californian homes have negative equity. Meanwhile, states in the central U.S. have the highest shares of homeowners who have negative equity or are "underwater," to use another real estate expression. Here is a list of the states with the highest share of negative home equity: 1. Louisiana (6.1%) 2. Iowa (4.9%) 3. Oklahoma (4.1%) 4. North Dakota (3.7%) 5. Kentucky (3.4%) 6. New York (3.3%) 7. Arkansas (3.3%) 8. Nebraska (3.1%) 9. Illinois (3.0%) 10. Wisconsin (2.6%) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/26686/medium_6e2aea0b-012e-42df-841e-6c900b160674.png) Use your Home Equity to pay for major expenses with Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) [Apply Now](https://money.com/pr/od9452e6ae7e?ap_referrer=%2Fstates-where-home-equity-increased-most%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/states-where-home-equity-increased-most/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Housing", "item": "https://money.com/housing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Home Equity", "item": "https://money.com/home-equity/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "10 States Where Home Equity Increased the Most Over the Past Year" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/states-where-home-equity-increased-most/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/states-where-home-equity-increased-most/", "name": "10 States Where Home Equity Increased the Most Over the Past Year", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-12-12T21:00:17.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/states-where-home-equity-increased-most/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/states-where-home-equity-increased-most/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2023-12-12T21:20:18.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "10 States Where Home Equity Increased the Most Over the Past Year", "articleSection": "Housing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/12/News-States-Homeowners-Gained-Equity.jpg", "width": 2304, "height": 1536, "caption": "News-States-Homeowners-Gained-Equity" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brenden Rearick", "url": "https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/#author", "description": "Brenden Rearick is a former news reporter at Money who specialized in mortgages, real estate, and personal finance topics.\r\n\r\n", "email": "brenden.rearick@money.com", "alumniOf": "University of Pittsburgh, BA" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-12-12T21:00:17.000Z", "description": "Homeowners gained $20,000 in equity on average despite rough times in real estate. 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